Neil Perry pulls out of haute cuisine; Eleven Bridge to close

Eleven Bridge, Neil Perry's fine-diner in the Sydney CBD, will
carve its last partridge on May 13. The restaurant wasn't part of
the merger Perry made with the Urban Purveyor
Group last year, which involved his Rockpool Bar & Grill, Rosetta and Spice Temple eateries, but when Eleven Bridge
reopens in June as a high-end Chinese restaurant, it will be as
part of the newly formed Rockpool Dining Group. Chef Phil Wood,
meanwhile, plans to leave the company.

It's the latest chapter in what has been one of the more
tumultuous stories in Australian restaurants. Despite positive reviews, Eleven Bridge has lasted
less than 12 months, and was itself a retooling of the original
Rockpool flagship after Perry relocated the restaurant to Bridge
Street in 2013 from its original site at The Rocks where - stay
with us - it had also briefly been rebranded as Rockpool (Fish) in
2007 after it had been eclipsed by the runaway success of its
sister restaurant, Rockpool Bar & Grill.

Wood says he's "excited, nervous and a bit sad all at once"
about the decision, but says that he leaves the Eleven Bridge
counting Perry as a friend, and is and proud of their achievements.
"I couldn't be happier with what I've done over the last eight
years, but now it's time to look at the eight years to come." He
says work overseas is a possibility, but for the moment he's
keeping his options open.

Phil Wood (left) and Neil
Perry at Eleven Bridge.

By Perry's admission, Eleven Bridge was a passion project and
struggled to make money. When he and his new partners were scouting
sites for a new Cantonese restaurant, the Bridge Street premises,
he says, seemed a natural choice.

The as-yet unnamed project will open following a $500,000
refurbishment, with Eleven Bridge sous chef Peter Robertson
heading the kitchen. Perry, whose Spice Temple brand
specialises in the schools of Chinese cooking beyond Cantonese,
says he's keen to immerse himself afresh in one of his favourite
cuisines. He also brushes off questions about the wisdom of opening
a high-end Cantonese restaurant on the same block as Mr Wong,
Sydney's most successful high-end Cantonese restaurant.

"You wouldn't think twice about it in Chinatown," he says. "I
think Sydney probably has room for four or five more great high-end
Chinese restaurants anyway."

He's also surprisingly stoic about leaving haute cuisine, even
as he acknowledges a "massive end to an era, after 28 years". Plans
are afoot for Phil Wood's send-off. In the meantime, the restaurant
will serve a greatest hits menu in the lead-up to its closure. And
what of the signature chicken wings with kombu butter? "I'm sure
they'll follow Phil wherever he chooses to go," says Perry. "We'll
have wings here, though they're probably going to be spicier."